


Lions and Spiders and Hulks, Oh my...

by AussieOnyx



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Anti-Mutant Sentiments, Baby, F/M, Kid Fic, Kids and dogs, clint is a big teddy bear, epic nursery, potentially strange biology, shape-shifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-16 14:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3491672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AussieOnyx/pseuds/AussieOnyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Shhh. Did you hear that?”<br/>“Did I hear what?” Clint looked on in amusement as his girlfriend wandered through the alleyway, peering into bins and boxes.<br/>“I dunno how to describe it, but there’s something alive in here.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Foundling

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! So, unlike 'Arms, this has actually been plotted into the double digit chapters, if not fully written yet (chapter 2 is in progress)- Yay for planning! :P. I went there, I did a kid!fic, and very Sorry, not sorry about it all.  
> It's set after everything Ultron, 'cos there's no way it won't be 'Jossed', so why bother trying? (besides, my headcannon means that Steve will still be alive and wielding the shield...)  
> Fair warning; New York is a foreign land to me, I know that it exists but the geography and habits of the city are entirely based on TVland and not actual reality... so apologies to any native NY-ers or transposed denizens for the inaccuracies.  
> There will be hand-wavy comic style rationales for science, genetics and maybe even magic later on down the track. Hope you enjoy this latest effort at procrastinating about Uni assignments. :)

New York was in a lull. The deep breath before the next dip in the roller-coaster of life. The last of the scaffolding had been taken down on freshly reconstructed buildings a few weeks ago and once again, things were as normal as they ever were. The politicians had gone back to filibustering over gun laws and which CEOs of which companies were allowed to have multi-billion dollar golden hand-shakes, cabbies were back to dodging in and out of traffic like drunken bumble-bees and swearing at tourists. Normal.  


The Avengers, as well as the self-styled villains had been on stand-down after the whole Ultron thing- delusions of grandeur and plans for world domination seemed pointless and after the sheer destruction that had happened. Everyone had lost something or someone that was dear to them during the conflict with the rogue AI and it was causing everyone (‘bad’ and ‘good’) to reflect on what was truly important. Though, it was only a matter of time before the next big bad decided to stretch their influence. The Avengers would be ready when they did. In the mean-time, all of them, were having a break; Steve had taken the opportunity provided by his temporary ‘death’ (he did die, but got better… some Asgard thing to do with the Valkyrie and being a valorous man) to just be Steve. For three weeks, Steve’d hid somewhere in the Amazon with Bruce having a vacation, though Clint was sceptical that vaccinating orphans in BFE, South America counted as a vacation.  


Nat had gone to ground in order to set up new working identities and salvage what was left of her network after the data-dump of SHIELD/HYDRA to the world-wide web, only popping back into New York to help with Ultron before disappearing again. Maybe she had been on a beach somewhere tropical? Until she said anything to confirm or deny, as far as the rest of the Avengers were concerned, she’d just disappeared.  


Clint, in the mean-time, stayed in the Tower with his other-half and continued to bask in his relationship with Darcy.  


He’d met Darcy in the aftermath of Thor’s first visit to New Mexico. After a couple of beers at the bar (miraculously spared the heat-blasts), he’d asked her out to a movie and the rest was history. Despite the age gap, she just got him. She understood the events that led him to SHIELD and the choices that he’d had to make. Darcy had stood by him in the aftermath of Loki’s brain-washing, held his hand after the visits to the psychiatrist that left him wrung out and weeping and most importantly, taught him how to smile and laugh again. For months after Loki and before the Winter Soldier had come on the scene, Clint had felt on the verge of breaking, had spent more time awake than asleep. She pulled him through it. When Ultron had decided that all humans were horrible and needed to be removed, Darcy had been his first thought- to get her to safety at the farm. Without sounding too schmaltzy and Hallmark-y, Darcy was his heart.  


“What’s got you all quiet, Clint? You’re normally more talkative than this.”  


Speak of the devil…  


“Just thinking Darce. A lot has happened in the last few years, and this has been the first real span of time that I can take a step back and breathe. There’s a lot to process.”  


“We’re almost at the cinema, if you want, we can skip the movie and go grab a coffee and talk instead? You know that I’m happy to listen to anything you want to discuss.”  


Clint smiled down at the brunette. She’d grown-up in the last few years- not in a physical sense (nope, no cradle-robbing creepiness here), more that she’d matured from the iPod obsessed intern to a formidable and capable department manager who could bring misbehaving scientists (Tony) to order with a glance. There were water-cooler whispers that Pepper was grooming Darcy as her second-in-command. It was more than a little hot.  


“No, baby. I’m fine. It isn’t something that needs to be discussed, more an internal musing about the things that lead to now. Thank-you though.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, Clint kissed her hair as they meandered down the footpath to the cinema.  
Humming at the contact, Darcy snuggled into his warmth. For a mid-fall evening, it was verging on snow-cold. It was times like this that Darcy missed the heat of the desert, star gazing with Jane after force-feeding her something with more nutritional value than a pop-tart. Times were simpler then. Despite the turmoil of the last few years, Darcy wouldn’t change anything.  


In one of the rare (for New York) silences that signify a break in the constant traffic, Darcy was drawn out of her introspection by an odd noise. It sounded like a cross between one of Lucky’s ‘I’m hungry. Feed me now, human slave’ howls and the sand-papery rasp/squeak of someone with laryngitis trying to laugh. Definitely alive. And it was coming from the alley way they were coming up to. Ever the one to just jump into things (much to Clint’s annoyance), Darcy wandered into the alley looking for the noise with Clint close behind.  


“Darcy, what’s up?”  


“Shhh. Did you hear that?” Nope, not in the dumpster.  


“Did I hear what?” Clint looked on in amusement as his girlfriend wandered through the alleyway, peering into bins and boxes.  


“I dunno how to describe it, but there’s something alive in here.”  


Muttering about how it was probably a rat and sighing in resignation, Clint looked at his watch- they were going to be late to the movie; he didn’t care, but Darcy was strict about seeing the previews. Clint was about to say something when he heard it this time. Darcy darted over to a packing crate tucked next to a stack of boxes that was the source of the sound, pushed aside some old papers and rags that were stacked on top of it and looked inside. Clint watched as she went sniper-still. That was odd. Darcy didn’t do still; it was like she was physically incapable of it.  


Clint was already making his way over to her when Darcy started flailing her hand at him to get over to her.  


“Clint, you’re the ex-carnie. Tell me that this isn’t what I think it is.”  


Frowning at her odd choice of descriptor, Clint looked over Darcy shoulder into the box and had to blink before looking again. It was a lion cub. Tiny (about four-times the size of a new-born domestic kitten), blind with fur still sparse and showing pink skin. Looked like it was newly born as well- the head was still kind of flattened. At the sound of Darcy’s voice, the cub awkwardly swung its head around on an unsteady neck and opened its mouth. In his own head, he could admit that the sound the cub made was adorable.  


“Yup. It’s a lion cub. There’s probably an illegal breeder around here somewhere.”  


With the same glare that could stop Tony in his tracks, Darcy poked his belly and told him; “Illegally bred or not, it’s a baby and cold and probably hungry. Pick it up- you’re the one with exotic animal experience. We’ll take it to a vet or something.”  


Using both hands as a scoop, Clint picked up the cub and brought it to his sweater-clad chest. The remnants of the cub’s umbilical cord slid slimily through his fingers and he had to suppress a shudder. Just as he was adjusting his hands to wrap the cub into the flaps of his jacket for extra warmth, the cub suddenly got heavier. Looking down, Clint realised that he was now holding a baby. The human version. A naked human baby girl, complete with umbilical stump.  


“Holy Shit!”  


Darcy looked up from examining the crate for clues to see Clint trying to juggle… a baby? Wait, what?  


“Where did that come from?” Darcy demanded.  


His words weren’t working properly- it wasn’t an everyday occurrence for a) random lion cubs or b) said random lion cub turning into a human, so he was understandably a bit shocked. “She’s the cub. I think she’s a mutant.” He immediately wanted to face-palm, because, ‘duh’-cub turning into baby, of course she’s a mutant! Either that or Loki was around causing mischief.  


If he weren’t so secure in his relationship with Darcy, the look that crossed her face would have made him run for the hills. It was the ‘Awww… Baby! I want one!’ look that was used in movies all the time as a trope for romantic comedies filled with playful misunderstandings… not that he ever watched those or anything.  


“We have to take her with us, Clint.” She said, peering over his arms at the infant. He was still trying to figure out the best way to cradle her and wrap his jacket around her at the same time.  


Darcy, seeing him flounder, held out her arms in clear demand.  


Somewhat relieved, he twisted his torso so that Darcy would have an easier time taking the baby from him. Crooning to the baby, Clint watched in amazement as his girlfriend tilted her so that she was resting upright against Darcy’s chest, head between her breasts with legs tucked up into her belly. She then wriggled her sweater up and over the baby to cover both of them in the warmth of the wool; the top of the baby’s head was just visible above the collar of Darcy’s sweater. She then shrugged out of her jacket and looked as though she was going to put it on backwards. Seeing as she was running out of hands, Clint helped her with the jacket and then, thinking of his quiver harness, grabbed his belt and wrapped it around Darcy’s waist, under the baby’s feet to create a pouch, and to free up Darcy’s hands. Jerry-rigged ‘baby-Bjorn’, check.  


“Let’s get home. Maybe we can stop at a bodega or something? Grab some diapers and stuff for the short term until we can figure out what we’re going to do.”  
Clint nodded in agreement as he watched Darcy dote on the baby as she wandered out of the alley. An idea that had been floating around in his head for a while, gained some solidity.  


Darcy was a good few meters in front of him before Clint remembered that they’d walked to the restaurant for dinner before deciding on the movie. It was too far away to walk back to the tower with a baby in tow- at least six or seven blocks.  


“Darcy, wait!” Clint hurried to catch up. “Let’s keep heading towards the cinema complex. We can stop at a shop there, grab some stuff for the sproglet and call for a pick-up. It’ll be better than walking all the way back to the tower in this chill.”  


Darcy nodded. “Better call for the pick-up first, Clint. With the traffic, it’ll take longer for the car to get to us. That way we can grab the stuff and be waiting. I want to get her home as soon as possible so that Bruce can have a look at her. She’s too quiet.”  


Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Clint steered Darcy back into the direction they’d been heading when they got detoured- Darcy wasn’t paying any attention to where she was going and pulled out his cell with his free hand.  


Walking as he dialled, he tried to ask Darcy what they should grab, but she was so absorbed in the baby resting against her chest that it was like talking to a wall. He’d just have to treat the whole situation like a mission gone FUBAR and wing it.  


**  


Tony was elbow deep in the latest upgrade to his armour when Jarvis cut into the middle of an awesome electric guitar riff to tell him that he had a phone call from Master Barton.  


“What’s up Tweety-Bird?”  


“Hey, Stark. Could you arrange a car to meet Darce and me at the cinema complex, seven blocks south of the tower? Our plans for the evening ran into a bit of a complication.”  


Tony frowned. Clint and Darcy were normally happy to go on foot everywhere. Weird people. For them to ask for a car was out of character. “Anyone injured? Should I alert medical?”  


“Nah. We’re both fine, but we found something unusual and don’t want to walk back with it, so that car would be appreciated.”  


“No worries.” A few key strokes and Tony was watching them on the city’s CCTV feed. “Barton, what’s Lewis holding?”  


Tony watched Clint on the feed as he looked up at the closest camera and flipped it off. “The thing that we found. We’ll give you more details when we get back.” Chuckling, Tony was about to ring off when he heard Clint again.  


“Hey, Stark?”  


“Yes, Barton?”  


“Can you make sure that Bruce is in the common room when we get back? I think he’ll be interested in this.”  


“Gotcha. The car is fifteen minutes out.”  


“Thanks.”


	2. Revelations and altered perspectives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Tony meet the new stray, Darcy has a revelation and Clint is a big teddy bear.

Warm.  
Warm and Safe.  
Warm and safe and tight. Too tight.  
Can’t move.  
Pushing, pushing. Fear.  
Squeeze, fear.  
Cold, bright, loud. Fear.  
Shift.  
Loud, loud.  
Cold.  
Cold. Call out, fear.  
Sensation, bad smell, not safe.  
Fear, call out.  
Cold, cold, cold.  
Call out. Noise.  
Call out.  
Moving.  
Warm. Safe. Warm and safe.  
Firm, scratchy. Safe.  
Shift.  
Moving.  
Warm and safe.  
Soft and sweet. Nice sounds.  
Warm, safe, soft, sweet.  
Sleep.  
**  


Clint had Darcy wait for the car at a café while he got the items they needed. Thankfully, the café was a little on the quiet side, so she didn’t draw too much attention.  
She was worried. Even in her limited experience with baby cousins, she knew that they moved and fidgeted frequently, as well as made little squeaky noises right before they let rip with the crying. Granted, they’d only picked her up a few minutes ago and by the feel of it (no way was she going to peer down her top in public) the baby was asleep, but still. She was worried.  


If indeed, the baby was a mutant (all signs pointed to yes), then she had a lot going against her. While babies were more likely to be adopted than older kids, the stats were less cheerful for babies with the x-gene, so there was no guarantee that she’d be adopted by a family who would be accepting of her or her talents. Added to the anti-mutant sentiment that was once again gaining ground in the public consciousness and the little girl was going to have a fight on her hands to even have a chance at having a somewhat decent life… Unless…  


A perky waitress bounced over to see what Darcy wanted to order and looked disappointed when she only asked for an orange juice.  


“I’d kill someone to have a coffee, but this one will keep me awake all night if I do. I mostly just enjoy the smell of it these days.” Darcy ran a hand over the baby’s back to give the waitress the idea that she was patting an ‘oh-my-god, she’s gonna pop’ belly. Perky waitress lady smiled in understanding and bounced off.  


Clint arrived just as the juice did. Both arms straining under the sheer number of bags that he was carrying. Darcy smiled at her lover and asked him if he left anything in the store for someone else.  


“Do you know how much crap babies need? Even for a few days? I had no clue what to get, so I grabbed some random person and said that we’d been saddled with a relative’s kid while their partner was in a car accident and that they’d forgotten everything in the rush to get to the hospital!” Clint had put the bags down and was quietly flailing.  


“Janice, that’s the name of the lady I grabbed, was really helpful and said that the key to surviving an infant was redundancy.” Clint dove into the bags as he rattled off the list of his purchases. “So I got; formula for infants, bottles, bottle cleaner stuff- ‘cos apparently you can’t use dishwashing liquid, a pacifier, diapers, butt-cream, powder, bath stuff, wipes, under-shirt thingies, onesies, a beanie that I thought was really cute, socks, a change pad, more wipes, some colourful soft toy things that squeak that I’m going to have to keep away from Lucky and some swaddling blankets.” Darcy was in stitches of laughter by the end of his tirade.  


“I’m serious, Darce. I don’t even need this much crap when I go on a mission and I’m, like, six times her size.”  


Wiping her eyes and taking a breath. “I know, Clint, but unlike you, she can’t wipe her own ass yet.” Clint nodded, ceding her point.  


“When does the car get here?”  


“Stark said it was going to be fifteen minutes when I called ten minutes ago, so it should be here soon.”  


Nodding, Darcy pushed the rest of her OJ over to her sniper and let a thought percolate...  
**  


Drivers for Stark Industries were expected to be fast, efficient, and skilled and had to have some measure of unflappability. Most of them had some experience in the military and were used to hairy situations, so when confronted with a naked Bruce, post Hulk-out or a drunk Tony they didn’t even blink an eye.  


For Dave, this situation might be the exception. He’d driven for Miss Lewis in the past week and she hadn’t been pregnant at the time. He allowed himself one blink at the belly and then seemed to shake it off as he held the door for her.  
Resigning himself to the fact that it was probably an Avenger’s thing, Dave shrugged mentally and put it out of his thoughts as he merged into traffic.  
**  


“Welcome back, Agent Barton, Miss Lewis. I see you’ve had an adventure this evening.”  
Clint chuckled. “Something like that Jarvis. Can you let Tony and Bruce know that we’re headed to the common floor and ask that they join us there?”  


“Certainly. I have increased the temperature in the room so that it is slightly above normal, Miss Lewis. It should soon be warm enough for your small companion to be comfortable.”  


Darcy smiled. Jarvis was the best. “If you had a face, Jarvis, I’d kiss you.”  


“The sentiment is appreciated, Miss Lewis. If I had a body, I’d let you.” Clint’s indignant “Hey!” made Darcy laugh. “You have now arrived at the Avengers’ common floor. Sir and Doctor Banner have indicated that they will be joining you in approximately ten minutes.”  


Clint staggered over to the couch and dumped the bags by the coffee table before turning to help Darcy with the belt closure that was holding the make-shift pouch in position. “You got her? When I let the belt go, she might drop.”  


Darcy smiled and gave him a peck on the lips before curling her hands under the baby. “I’ve got her babe. Go for it.”  
The belt dropped to the floor and Darcy sighed in relief at having the belt gone. “Freedom!” Clint chuckled and watched as her victory grin shifted to a grimace of discomfort. 

“Reach under and grab the kid, babe. I need to pee.”  
**  


When Darcy came out of the bathroom, it was to see Clint sitting on the couch with the baby held to his chest as he ran a finger up and down the soft skin of her back. He looked content even as he seemed a million miles away. Something in her heart clenched.  


“Hey.” The hand she put on his shoulder snapped him back from where-ever his mind had drifted to. “I grabbed a wash cloth and a towel so we can give her a bit of a clean-up before the guys arrive.”  


Clint hummed under his breath, grabbed her hand that was still on his shoulder and guided her to sit next to him with a kiss to her knuckles.  
The baby was beginning to stir and make little noises against the fuzzy scratch of Clint’s sweater. He found it cute. Darcy seemed to think so as well if the smile stretching ear to ear was any indication. She grabbed the change mat and put it on the couch next to them. Poor bubba was grubby and, with the better light in the room, they could see that she couldn’t have been more than a few hours old. Clint was fuming. It would have been bad enough if the cub they’d found was an actual cub, but to just abandon a baby… He hoped that there was a special circle of hell reserved for people who did that.  


The doors swished open to admit Tony and Bruce just as the baby began to cry in that really heart-wrenching way that only new-borns can manage. Drawn by the noise, the self-titled ‘ScienceBros’ peered over the couch in time to see the baby change into her lion cub form.  


“Whoa. So, Clint, anything you want to tell us?” Tony was looking amused with a side of bewilderment at the baby-turned cub who was now trying to stumble/crawl towards the voice that just spoke.  


“You got this babe? I’m going to go and make her a bottle. She’s probably hungry.” Darcy stood and gave him a peck on the cheek as the boys found somewhere to sit.  
**  


“…and now here we are, with a baby who turns into a lion cub.” Clint finished as Darcy walked back into the room with a warm bottle and a tea-towel over her shoulder. The baby-cub was currently curled up on Clint’s thigh as he stroked her head.  


Bruce was blinking as he polished his glasses. “That’s quite the story, Clint. I think that it’s fair to say that she is indeed a carrier of the X-gene, but a simple blood test will tell us for sure.”  


“Won’t that hurt her?” Clint picked up the cub-baby and cuddled her close, protectively. Concern for the baby was evident in his tone.  


A soft smile changed Bruce from the timid scientist that most were familiar with into a truly beautiful man with the outer shell matching the heart on the inside.  


“No, Clint. A small heel prick, a little bit of blood and she won’t even realise that it’s happened. I can even screen for the routine things that are usually done soon after birth. It’ll startle her more than anything, so she might cry, but it won’t hurt.”  


Darcy watched thoughts chase across Clint’s face. He didn’t realise it, but he was already acting like a protective father. Maybe it was a primitive hind-brain thing, but Clint had never looked more attractive to her. If she weren’t exhausted from the evening (and also didn’t have a baby to look after), she’d be dragging him into their bedroom for some wall pounding sex right about now.  


“Let him, Clint. It’s one of those things that need to be done.”  


Clint nodded and Bruce wandered off to get the supplies that he needed. Darcy handed Clint the bottle and watched as he coaxed the cub into taking the nipple. She shifted back into human and started to suck in earnest; Darcy managed to get the baby powdered, diapered and dressed without disturbing her. Tony had been silent throughout the whole thing- a distinctly un-Tony like event.  


“Are you okay, Tony?” He was staring at the baby as though she held all the answers to the universe.  


“I’m fine.” He smirked. “I gotta say though, when you lot bring home strays, they sure are doozies. First a three-legged, one-eyed dog, now a kid that can change into a lion cub. What’ll it be next? Maybe you’ll both stumble over a unicorn or something.”  


Clint was too distracted to dignify that with a response. Darcy just stared.  


The bottle was half done when Bruce came back in with his field kit and a handful of tiny blood tubes- Clint saw them and went pale. “I can’t watch this, Darce. You take her while I get another bottle ready for later.”  


Muttering about big, tough heroes being scared of a little prick, Darcy re-settled the baby (who’d only whined a little at the hand over) and waited for Bruce to tell her what to do.  


“This shouldn’t take too long, Darcy. I can also give her the first of her infant vaccinations if you want?”  


“Sure. Might as well get it over with.”  
**  


Movement.  
WarmSafeSoftSweet not there.  
WarmSafeFirmScratch there.  
Awake.  
Not cold, cold. Safe  
WarmSafeSoftSweet there.  
Noise, not loud, loud.  
Wet. Cold.  
Call out. Shift.  
Noise. WarmSafeFirmScratch touch. Safe.  
Hungry. Food. Food.  
Shift.  
Food, food.  
Noise. Food, hungry.  
WarmSafeSoftSweet back. Warm. Safe. Food.  
Soft noise. Safe.  
Sleepy.  
Pinch. Call out. Food.  
Nice noise. Safe.  
**  


Darcy was crooning to the baby again as Bruce collected the blood samples and administered the vaccines. He couldn’t help but smile to himself- she’d be an amazing mother; mutant or not, Darcy was holding her daughter in her arms. She just didn’t know it yet.  


“If it’s alright with you and Clint, Darcy, I’ll put a call in to Professor Xavier. Hopefully he and Doctor Grey can come by in the morning and have a look at the results of the tests. I only know the basics when it comes to the X-gene and would feel more confident in giving you the all clear if someone who knew more had a look.”  


About to ask something stupid, like; ‘Why are you asking me these things’, Darcy stopped with her mouth open, stared for a minute and then met Bruce’s eyes.  


She knew.  


“That would be great, Bruce. Thank-you.”  


Nodding, he grabbed his kit, the blood and the spent vaccination vials and stood to leave. Tony stood as well. He was already muttering to himself about nano-plates for armour and the potential for changes in mass of the wearer. Darcy had a feeling that he was going to do something stupid… like make an IronBaby suit.  


“Darcy,” Bruce interrupted her mental note to have Jarvis monitor Tony’s tinkering for the next couple of days. “it might be an idea to maybe offer her more formula than normal for a baby her age. With her shape-shifting all the time, her metabolism will be through the roof. She’ll need the calories.”  


Nodding, Darcy waited for Clint to come back from the kitchenette. They had a lot to discuss before the Professor’s visit, and the common room wasn’t the place for it.


	3. Meet the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the rest of the Family... and some other bits...

Clint had claimed the baby back from Darcy for the trek back to their suite. He’d felt the need to check over every inch of her skin after Bruce had done what he needed to. Intellectually, Clint knew that the baby was fine, but there was something forcing him to see for himself. He felt a little guilty for leaving Darcy with the bags, but she didn’t seem to mind if the knowing smirk was any indication.  


“Clint, can you get the door? I have my hands full.”  


Lucky was waiting for them as they came through the door. His normal, effusive greeting was a little stilted as he tried to welcome them back to the den and do the pee-pee dance at the same time.  


“Did you want to take him out Clint? I’ll get her set up in our room, then we should talk.”  


“Sure.” Clint waited for Darcy to dump the bags once again to hand the baby over then gestured to Lucky. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go find a tree to water.”  
Lucky bolted out the door, Clint not far behind after giving Darcy a swift kiss.  
**  


Watching Lucky run around the roof-top garden, Clint let his thoughts wander.  


He’d never really given any serious thought to having a family before he met Darcy. It was always one of those abstract things that might happen in a far-off hand-wavy future kind of way. He’d spent most of the time working for SHIELD living day-to-day, eating more pizza than could be safely considered healthy and shooting the people he was pointed at. Then he met Darcy and that far-off hand-wavy future started to become a real possibility for him.  


This evening had been something of an epiphany. Holding the baby girl and feeling the sense of protectiveness for her overwhelm everything else was making his head hurt. Seeing Darcy with the baby added to the paradigm shift. This was right. The time was right, he was in a relationship with the right woman and he even had the dog that he’d wanted as a kid in the circus. He wanted this- the whole package; wife, kid or kids, dog and a home. And it was right there for the taking.  


Lucky, having finished his investigations of the plants, was leaning against Clint’s leg, panting and staring at something (real or imagined) in the distance. Clint smiled. “What do you say Lucky-dog? Want to go see Darcy and find out if she’ll keep us forever?”  
**  


His pack was back! They’d left him to guard the den before the sun went away- they needed to hunt, and now they were back. He needed to relieve himself, but at the same time, the greeting ritual needed to be completed. It was Important.  


They’d returned to the den with the crinkly stuff that was fun to look in and something small that smelled like milk and cat and two-leg, but that could wait. His pack leader was making the motion that meant it was time to go away from the den. Good, they forgave him that the greeting ritual wasn’t completed properly.  


The pack leader was distracted by something. It was his duty as pack mate to offer comfort. The pack leader was saying something that he couldn’t understand, then he made the noise that Lucky knew meant the female pack leader. He liked the female. She always found the itchy places.  
**  


Darcy only realised that Clint hadn’t bought a travel cot or something like it when she went to set the baby up in their room. Thinking fast, Darcy put a towel down over the doona on their bed, surrounded it with pillows and set the baby dead centre in the little nest she’d made. They couldn’t have the baby in bed with them- Clint still had nightmares about falling that meant he flailed in his sleep.  


Finger tapping her lip, Darcy considered what she could use for baby-nap central. Grabbing her yoga mat, a relatively clean sheet from the hamper (on the thinking that their scent would help keep the baby calm and in baby-shape) the rest of the pillows from the bed and a micro-fleece blanket that they kept on the couch, she made a small bed-nest in a corner of the room, away from where anyone could trip. Thinking about how Lucky liked to curl up with them had her grabbing the unused decorative fire-place guard from the lounge area (why Tony had felt the need to have a fireplace in the suites, she’d never know) and setting it around the make-shift crib. Calling it good, Darcy transferred the sleeping baby to her new bed and waited a few minutes to see if she’d wake-up.  


Coffee. She needed coffee. No. Shower, pyjamas then coffee  


“Miss Lewis? Doctor Banner has asked that I make you aware that he has had contact with Professor Xavier. The Professor and Doctor Grey will be at the tower tomorrow morning.”  


Thinking that it was late for there to be phone calls crossing the state, Darcy was startled to realise that it was only just after nine o’clock. It felt way later than that. “Thanks, Jarvis.”  


Darcy was torn- she really wanted a shower (she could still smell the alleyway), but didn’t want to be out of ear shot. How the heck did parents do this?  


She blamed exhaustion for not thinking of it sooner.  


“Jarvis, I’m in desperate need of a shower. Could you please keep a proverbial eye on the baby? Let me know if she starts to stir or something?”  


“Certainly, Miss Lewis.”  


Sighing in relief, Darcy began gathering her nightclothes and wandered into the bathroom.  
**  


Letting himself back into the suite, Clint heard the shower running. It was one of Darcy’s favourite ways of de-stressing, the other was coffee. He could do with a cup himself- it had been that kind of evening. He started the pot to brewing and then went to unpack the shopping bags. Diapers and butt maintenance stuff went to the coffee table, baby food stuff went into the kitchen while the (ridiculously tiny) clothes were thrown into the wash with some shirts.  


Lucky was giving him that look that meant he was about to start howling for food.  


The shower shut off as Clint filled up Lucky’s bowl with kibble and tried not to feel guilty about it not being pizza. Darcy had finally managed to convince Clint that pizza, with all the fat and cheese, not to mention the onions and garlic would make it more likely that Lucky would end up at the vet with pancreatitis.  


Darcy came to find Clint just as the coffee post was gurgling to a finish. Without saying anything, she walked right up to him and fell into his chest. They both just needed a hug. Lucky finished his kibble and flopped over their feet in an effort to be part of the pack bonding moment.  


There are hugs that can be superficial- like those exchanged by high-school friends in greeting, there are hugs that welcome you back from a journey, hugs that convey empathy for a loss and the hugs that say ‘Good-bye, you’ll be missed’. But the best hugs, as far as Darcy was concerned, are the ones that wrap you up in a warm blanket of safety, where regardless of what’s happening in the big wide world, you know that nothing will get you while you’re wrapped in the arms of someone you love. Clint gave good hug. It was just another small part of why she loved him so much.  
**  


“I want to keep her.”  


Muffled against his chest, Darcy’s declaration sounded more like ‘Mm mmmft fo fee fer’, but he got the point and felt his heart leap with joy. He was going to have his family!  


“Me too.”  


Darcy’s head lifted to look at his face. She was smiling. “Yeah?”  


“Yeah.” He couldn’t resist a quick kiss, before loosening his arms, “I was going to make some attempt at romance before I did this, but,” He quickly moved to a cupboard and reached behind some jars to pull out a small red velvet coloured box. “Darcy, you’re the missing part of my soul that I never thought that I’d ever recover. Will you allow me to be your husband and make me the happiest man on Earth?”  


She couldn’t breathe. Clint was standing there with a dopey grin on his face, holding a silver ring that had an odd arrangement of tiny diamonds. It took her a minute to realise that it was a caffeine molecule. She laughed before jumping at him.  


“It’s like you know me, or something. Yes, absolutely yes.”  


Laughing, he spun her around while Lucky grumble barked at them.  
**  


“We still need to talk about logistics and press and stuff, ‘cos like it or not, you’re a public figure and the last thing we need is the media to go around saying that we’ve kidnapped her or something.”  


They were curled up together on the couch with their coffees after a small celebratory make-out session.  


Not wanting to move from his position, Clint hmm’d under his breath.  


“That’s probably something that’s better discussed with everyone tomorrow. It’ll affect them just as much. Besides we need to work out what to name the squirt, first.”  


“Both are very good points. We should also probably look at getting some nursery stuff and figure out the paperwork side of things.”  


Clint groaned. “Oh, yay. Paperwork.”  


“Don’t be like that babe. The more we figure out tonight, the less we have to do tomorrow when the Professor comes to visit.”  


“Fine. So, any ideas on what to name our kid?”  


“Our kid.” Darcy grinned, “Nope. No clue. Though I don’t want to go on trend. So no ‘Isabella’ or ‘Anastacia’. For all that they’re good names with minimal mocking potential, I don’t want to tell her that we named her after a character in a crappy movie/book franchise.”  


Darcy’s rants about those pieces of pop ‘literature’ (she used the term loosely) were famous amongst the tower residents.  


“Fair enough.” Clint waited for Darcy to make a suggestion. When nothing was forth-coming after a few minutes he grabbed her tablet from next to the pile of diapers, pulled up a baby-names website and started to scroll.  
**  


Darcy was dozing against her fiancé (and wasn’t that a trip? Clint was her fiancé!) when he nudged her shoulder and showed her a web-page he’d pulled up. “What do you think of this one?”  


“I like it. What about a middle name? It has to be fairly neutral otherwise someone will be offended.”  


“I thought of that and while I would normally agree, I think this one fits. Because of reasons.”  


Darcy chuckled. “I love you, you dork. I think it’s perfect.” She stood, stretched and yawned. “Time for bed, lover boy. The baby isn’t going to let us sleep for long.”  


“You go on ahead. I’ll wait until she’s awake and give her a feed before joining you.”  
**  


Darcy was alone in the bed when she woke up. Her phone told her that it had only just gone half past six. The other side of the bed was still warm, so Clint couldn’t have been up long. She really thought that he’d wake her for at least one of the feeds through the night- she’d actually been kind of looking forward to it.  
A quick hair brush and swish with mouth wash and Darcy went in search of her fiancé. She found him sitting on the couch with the baby and a bottle. She was still in the onesie from the other night so a more comprehensive sponge bath would be in order.  


“Good morning you two. How long have you been up?”  


“Not long. Maybe half an hour.” Clint strained his head back, angling for a kiss.  


Darcy obliged. “Mmm. And how many times did you get up with her? I didn’t even hear you get out of bed.”  


“Just once. Around half past two.”  


“Clint, we’re in this together. Don’t think you have to do it all yourself.” Scolding mildly, Darcy wandered into their kitchenette for a cup of coffee. She’d wait on breakfast until she got upstairs.  


Clint followed her, baby cradled close. “I know. But I just wanted you to sleep. I don’t need as much as you do- when I’m not on a mission, it’s all down-time. You’re always talking to big wigs and managing Tony. It’d look worse if you started yawning in a meeting.”  


“You have a point, but there’s also the fact that you could be called out to save the world at any time, day or night. I don’t want you so tired that you fall off a building by accident.” Clint winced at the dig. “How about we decide on a compromise?”  


“I’m game. What’s your offer?”  


“I usually go to bed by ten pm during the week. Now that Jane has minions of her own, I don’t need to be down there all hours. Here’s the proposal; I’ll do any night time feeds before I go to bed. You can do the feeds between then and when you go to bed. We split the difference until the morning; I do one, you do one. Whoever is up first, gets food duties. Deal?”  


“Deal.”  


“Good. Now give me my daughter; I want to snuggle.”  


Clint laughed as Darcy all but snatched the baby out of his arms.  
**  


Jarvis interrupted their attempt at giving the baby a bath in the (cleaned out) kitchen sink. The little one seemed as though she couldn’t decide if she liked the water or wanted to cry about it, so settled on a disgruntled expression that alternated with surprise. Clint found it hilarious. Lucky had bolted for his bed the minute he saw the towel come out.  


“Miss Lewis, Agent Barton. I apologise for the interruption, but it appears that Sir has seen fit to assemble the tower residents for a morning meal. I would suggest that you make your way up there as soon as possible so that you’re able to make any announcements in your own time.”  


“Thanks for the heads up, Jarvis. Can you let them know that we’ll be up as soon as we can?”  


“Certainly, Miss Lewis. May I be the first to congratulate you on your engagement and new addition?”  


“Aww, thanks J-man. I like him, so I guess I have to keep him now.”  


“Indeed.”  


Clint was pouting. It was adorable.  


“We better get up there before Stark puts out a press release or something.” Darcy leaned over Clint’s arms to tickle the baby’s foot and press a swift kiss to the pouting archer’s mouth. “I’m gonna get dressed real quick and then give you a hand getting her ready for her debut. Back in a sec.”  
**  


Natasha was still apprehensive about living in the tower with everyone else, even after the better part of two years. That many ‘supers’ in one place was just asking for someone to try and invade or blow it up and get rid of all of them in one stroke. Add in the ‘non-super’ civilians and it made her skin itch.  


Though, she did have to concede that she was happier here than she had ever been in the past. It was nice to know that she always had somewhere to come back to and that there would be people happy to see her. Part of her apprehension was the idea that it could all be taken away from her with a well-aimed surface-to-air missile, or (more likely) sabotage.  


A relayed message from Stark, via Jarvis, had her wandering up to the common floor for breakfast after she’d finished her work-out. It was rare for Tony to call everyone together- usually he had to be dragged up from the workshop by either Pepper or Darcy, kicking and screaming. It was a 50/50 coin toss that Tony was either going to announce that he was going to do something stupid- in which case Pepper would talk him out of it, or he knew something that the others didn’t and wanted to gloat about it. The latter option would likely result in someone (probably Natasha) slapping him. All in all, it promised to be an interesting breakfast.  
**  


They were the last to arrive.  


It was kind of expected though- getting tiny arms through equally tiny sleeves was a bit of a tricky feat when you don’t have much experience with it. Swaddling the baby was also a bit tricky. It took a google search and Jarvis reading out the instructions to get her bundled up securely enough not to have flailing limbs. The problem with being last to arrive was that they’d made everyone wait to eat; Steve had been adamant that no-one could start their meal until everyone was at the table. It was the concession that they’d made in return for not having to say ‘Grace’.  


“Sorry we’re late, everyone. There were some dressing dilemmas.”  


Darcy had won the mock battle about who was going to be carrying the baby up to the common room, so she was standing slightly behind Clint as they came in. They’d also decided to bring Lucky with them- after all, this was a family gathering and Lucky was family. Thor especially loved having the dog around- he claimed that it was because he had hunting dogs back on Asgard, but Darcy suspected that it was really because Thor was a big softie when it came to animals.  


Jane was the first to turn around to look at them; her mouth fell open when she saw what Darcy was holding. Darcy pressed a finger to her lips in a ‘Shh’ gesture. Jane grinned and sat back to watch the show.  


“It’s fine guys, we’re all here now so we can eat. Have a seat.” Steve was putting the last of the food onto the table while dodging Lucky who was trying, and failing, to trip the super-soldier in the hopes of a dropped pancake.  


“Dig in everyone!”  


Bruce looked up as Clint helped Darcy to her seat then started loading up plates for them both. In the general din of everyone loading up their plates and good-natured ribbing, as well as a few thrown blue-berries (Bucky!), he wasn’t overheard when he asked Darcy, “How was she overnight?”  


“Only woke up twice after I went to bed. Clint handled it both times.”  


“Good. The tests are almost finished running. We should have the results before the Professor gets here.”  


“You’re a good man, Bruce Banner. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” Bruce blushed and bent to his fruit salad with yoghurt.  
**  


Darcy and Clint had actually discussed how to handle the big reveal to their friends and decided to down-play it; make conversation and then somehow bring it up. Jane couldn’t be relied on to stay on topic- she was practically vibrating in her seat as she watched Darcy try to eat with one hand.  


“So, Steve. How was your night? Did you get up to anything interesting?”  


He didn’t look up from his waffles as he replied. “No, nothing too interesting Darcy. Had dinner, watched a movie with Bucky. What about yourself?”  


Darcy shrugged for effect and then said as matter-of-factly as she could manage without cracking up;  


“Oh, you know, nothing much. Date night with Clint, found a shape-shifting baby, got engaged, decided to keep the baby. Pretty typical.”  


“Good, good.” Steve stopped chewing, put his fork down, blinked, swallowed, blinked again and then; “What was that?”  


Darcy was slightly proud of the note of hysteria that was colouring Steve’s tone of voice. And because everyone at the table were nosy busybodies, they were all listening to her reply.  


“I said, I had a date night with Clint, we found a shape-shifting baby, got engaged and decided to keep her.”  


The room got so quiet all of a sudden that Darcy could have sworn that it was possible to hear a mouse fart.  
**  


Clint was silently laughing to himself. The team’s reaction was priceless. All of them were staring at him and Darcy as though they’d each grown a second head. He really hoped that Jarvis had recorded the whole thing- it would make an excellent film clip to show at the Christmas party.  


Five…four…three…two… one…  


“Congratulations, Brother Hawk, Lady Darcy. May the young one grow to honour the legacy of her parents’!”  


Thor’s declaration snapped the rest of them out of their stupors and suddenly the room was louder than normal. Versions of Thor’s congratulations, questions about finding the baby, accusations of keeping secrets again (Pepper to Tony) and Natasha’s quiet “I’m happy for you both” bounced around the room.  


A squawking cry was swiftly followed by Darcy’s “Shit, ouch.”  


“Darce, you okay?” Clint’s concern managed to calm everyone down.  


“No. She shifted again and put a claw in my boob. Help me untangle her.” Tony started snickering only to receive a slap upside the head from Pepper.  


Clint and Darcy worked together to free the cub-baby from the blankets, suddenly too-big onesie and diaper. The Avengers watched on in fascination as the baby was revealed; creamy fur with darker-cream striping along a stubby tail and spine, closed eyes and toothless mouth.  


Super-cute. Not that he was biased or anything.  


Jane and Pepper seemed to agree with the ‘cute’ assessment if the quiet ‘squees’ were any indication.  


Once freed, Darcy shifted the cub upright against her chest and crooned at her until she changed back to her human shape.  


“Clint, can you take her and get her redressed? I need to go and see the damage.”  
**  


Clint had the baby’s back resting against his chest so that she could ‘see’ everyone at the table and they could see her. It sounded like Clint was once again telling the tale of how they found her. They were all riveted, as though what Clint was saying was an epic saga of good versus evil. He was loving the attention.  


Darcy was more interested in the expressions on everyone’s faces; Tony looked slightly bored and like he was plotting something, Natasha was blank-faced and probably also plotting revenge on someone, Bruce looked as though he wanted something to doodle with an equation or something having already heard the story last night, Thor was alternating between proud (likely of Clint for the tale telling- he was really getting some embellishments in) and, pun totally intended, thunderous at the thought that the baby had been abandoned in the first place. Jane and Pepper looked as though they were each about to make grabby-hands to hold the baby. The really fascinating expressions though, were those belonging to Steve and Bucky.  


Steve was confused. As though he’d never seen a new-born before. Bucky was making silly faces at the baby between bites of bacon. She was going to be teasing him about that later.  
**  


“So, anyway. Last night, Darcy and I were talking and we both decided that we want to keep her as ours. We’ll figure out the legal and paperwork side of things after Professor Xavier and his colleague have come by, because we haven’t the faintest clue about where to start. In the mean-time, we’d like you to meet our daughter, your niece, Vanya Sigrid Barton.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vanya;Russian, Precious gift of God  
> Sigrid: Scandinavian, beauty


	4. It takes a village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls go shopping, the boys get their village people on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short interlude before the next one. Just getting some details out of the way. :)

Breakfast turned into a celebratory brunch when Tony dragged out a case of sparkling wine and Vanya made the rounds of her honorary Aunts and Uncles. Everyone had a cuddle with various levels of comfort. Poor Steve looked as though he were holding a live grenade and didn’t quite grasp that she wasn’t going to suddenly vomit on him (Vanya saved that particular honour for Bucky who just laughed) while Thor was the most comfortable holding the baby (Darcy watched Jane melt into a clucky pile of gooey Astrophysicist).  


When it was Pepper’s turn, she caused the most laughs when she turned to Tony, Vanya snuggled to her shoulder and said, “Tony, I want one”, to which Tony replied, “Pepper, No.”  


Clint couldn’t help the mental excited puppy wriggle when he went to get some more OJ from the kitchen and saw Tony tuck a strand of Pepper’s hair behind an ear, kiss her forehead and say ‘We’ll discuss it later.’ Looked like Vanya would have a cousin to play with soon- He had all the faith in Pepper’s ability to talk Tony into anything, including having a baby.  
**  


The visit from the Professor and Doctor Grey was mostly an anti-climax.  


They confirmed that the results of the tests that Bruce ran were accurate and the Vanya did in fact have the X-gene as well as being perfectly healthy for a (now) two-day old. 

They did give Darcy and Clint an idea of how to tackle the paperwork side of keeping Vanya though- if they registered her as a closed adoption then they could file that the birth mother had terminated all maternal rights, didn’t wish to be named and the record was to be kept sealed. With Dr Grey willing to sign the birth certificate as attending physician, it was less likely that there would be a huge amount of scrutiny. There were still some hazy legal bits that might crop up in the future if someone found out that they hadn’t reported finding the baby in the first place, but that was what Tony, his money and the army of lawyers were for.  


The Professor was able to give them a bit of an insight as to how Vanya’s mutation would progress though; the cub form would mimic her human form’s development- when Vanya begun to focus on things, her cub form would open her eyes. Of course, that meant that when she started teething, there would be a lion cub tearing around the tower and chewing on table legs… so that would be fun.  


For now though, Clint and Darcy would just enjoy the fact that had a daughter to dote on and love. And also apparently shop for; they were swiftly running out of both diapers and baby formula.  
**  


Jarvis, that amazing creation of circuitry and binary code, had been busy while the Avengers were having their brunch.  


He must have been listening in on the plans for that day; the ladies were going to be heading off for baby-themed retail therapy while the guys were going to be handling the setting up of the nursery (Darcy personally thought that it was an excuse for them to get in more baby cuddles- not that she blamed them ) because by the time that Darcy and Clint had returned to the suite to put Vanya down for her nap, Jarvis had book-marked different styles of nursery furniture for them to pick from. He assured that whatever the selection, the items would be delivered by the middle of that afternoon.  


After much good-natured discussion, (“No, Clint, the nursery isn’t going to be a ‘shades-of-purple’ circus”, “But, pink and blue makes purple and that’s not gendered at all!” “No, Clint, I don’t want my baby thinking that she’s sleeping in a grape when she can finally see.” “Aww, but, Circus.”) they decided on a baby-ified sunset jungle/savannah theme with beech-wood furniture. A quick message to Tony ensured that the roof would be a summer-accurate star field of twinkle lights.  


With a solid plan in place, Darcy left Clint and the guys to tinker. Hopefully the suite would still be there when she got back.  
**  


After getting to the mall, Darcy had sent them all off separately with a list of things to get; Natasha and Jane tackled toys and safety equipment (car seat, stroller, porta-cot), Darcy was originally going to get the clothing herself, but after seeing the look on Pepper’s face, sent the CEO to see to her baby’s couture while Darcy went for the formula, diapers, bath stuff and books. There were distractions (Natasha and Jane had to be chivvied away from the mock battle they’d had going with pool noodles while Pepper had to be talked out of a diamanté studded onesie), but all in all, they were done with an efficiency that Generals would marvel at.  


There was just So. Much. Stuff. To be fair, Darcy should have been suspicious when each of them grabbed a shopping cart. Each.  


It took the four ladies, Happy and three security guards to bring up all the stuff that they’d bought.  
**  


After putting her arm-loads of stuff down by the couch and gestured the others to do the same, Darcy abandoned them to chatting with the guys while she went and checked on Vanya. She was slightly surprised at how much she’d missed Vanya in the few hours that she’d been at the mall. For only having been a part of her life for such a short time, Vanya had already wormed her way into Darcy’s heart and settled into an empty spot that she wasn’t aware had been there in the first place.  


Vanya was beginning to stir when Darcy looked over the barrier. Little noises and scrunchy-faced expressions warned Darcy that her daughter was about to start crying; not wanting to make her wait, Darcy picked the baby up, snuggling her to the crook of her neck and talking to her. “Hello, kitten. Did you have a good nap?” Darcy was answered with Vanya trying to suck on her neck- the sensation sent tingles through Darcy’s body. “Aw… Let’s get you a bottle, huh? Then we’ll go and see what your Daddy and Uncles got up to.”  


Expecting a mountain of bags and boxes, Darcy was startled to see that everything had been unpacked. Clothing and soft toys were in a basket to be washed, the diapers and books were stacked in a pile by the closed nursery door and the slightly harder, but still soft-ish toys were unpacked and smelled as though they’d been wiped over with a baby wipe. The play activity thingy that Pepper insisted she get had already been set up and was being sniffed by Lucky. When she went into the kitchen area, she found the tins of formula stacked in a pantry that had been rearranged to accommodate them and the coffee pot already gurgling away. She hadn’t been gone all that long…  


She really loved her friends... though she had no idea where they’d got to and hadn’t heard them leave. Of course, with how absorbed she was in adoring her baby, a herd of elephants could have been stampeding past and she wouldn’t have known.  


“Clint?”  


The nursery door opened a crack, allowing Clint to stick his head out the door. The grin on his face made her suspicious.  


“Hey, you’re back. Turn around a sec, I want to come out and don’t want you to see everything yet.”  


He was so excited, like a little kid at Christmas. She couldn’t help but indulge him with a smile. Darcy heard him bounce out of the room, shut the door and cross to her quickly. “Hi.”  


“Okay,” Clint was brandishing one of her scarves, “So, I want to blind-fold you so you can get the full effect when you go in.”  


“Fine, but you can’t let me run into anything.” She gestured to the baby in her arms.  


A quick, hard kiss, followed by a ‘Trust Me’ saw the scarf wrapped over her eyes and Darcy spun around and walked forward. There was a click as the door shut, and then the scarf was taken off.  


“Wow.”


	5. Growth and Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nursery is revealed, paper-work is finalised and Vanya gets bigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The nursery is done... I want one!  
> Also another bit of a transition chapter... there will also be a bit of a break in updates; the plotting I'd done before all kind of got smooshed into the last few chapters, so I need to get ahead with the story plan again.  
> I didn't mention it before, but I absolutly adore all of the comments, kudos and book-marks that this story has generated. Thank-you all, sooo much for your support.

Tony, Thor, Bruce, Steve and Bucky all arrived to their suite as the ladies were leaving for the mall. A last minute admonishment from Darcy, backed up by Pepper’s glare, warned them to ‘be good!’. The unspoken ‘Or Else’ made Clint grin and want to mess around, just because he could.  


After offers of drinks had been made, it was Steve who rallied them all to the task at hand with a clap- Bucky rolled his eyes where Steve couldn’t see. “Right then, so what do you want to do with the room?”  


Clint floundered for a minute- momentarily forgetting what he and Darcy decided (he’d really wanted that circus theme). “Oh, right. So, we decided on a jungle/savannah thing with wood furniture. Beyond that and the star-light details that we talked to Tony about, we’ll just have to see what works best.”  


Tony had already wandered over to the room that Clint and Darcy had decided would be the nursery and opened the door. His derisive snort caught all of their attention. “The first thing we have to do is clear out all of this crap. What is all this, Barton?”  


Clint walked over and looked inside. “I honestly don’t know.” There were unopened boxes stacked against one of the walls, three deep and erratically stacked- as though the person loading the room got fed up before finishing and just tried to cram it all in, random pieces of furniture and what looked like a dress-makers mannequin. “I think that a lot of it is Darcy’s from her dorm at Uni and what she had in storage after her parents passed.”  


Tony was peering into the one open box tucked by the door. The grin splitting his goatee hinted at trouble. “I don’t think all of it is Lewis’, Barton.” He bent down and plucked something out of the box. “Not unless she’s into skin mags.” Tony was brandishing one of the few ‘Playboy’ editions that he’d ever bought. Clint felt the blush start as Bucky crowded behind him and made grabby-hands at Tony. “Gimme!”  
**  


After the room had been cleared and the boxes put into a storage room somewhere else in the tower, the guys were sitting in the middle of the now empty room discussing plans.  


It was a fairly smallish room- there would be enough room for the crib, a tall-boy/change table combination and rocking chair without being too cramped, but Clint and Darcy had also ordered bookshelves that would double as storage and a toy chest.  
Clint and Steve had gotten caught up in an imaginary game of ‘Tetris’ trying to picture how all of the furniture would fit in the room and still leave enough of a walk-way so that they wouldn’t trip trying to get the baby down for a nap.  


Tony had gotten bored with their argument and called up a schematic of the suite and surrounding rooms. “It’s not that big of a deal, guys.” Tony stood to demonstrate as he was talking. “We knock out this wall here and push into the third room; this more than doubles your total space you’ll be able to fit all of the furniture with space to spare and will have enough left over to partition off for the play area.”  


Clint was confused. “Play area? What play area?”  


Tony sighed. “I did some reading on lion cubs, Barton. They’re agile little fuckers that like to climb and tumble and stuff.” He paused to make sure that everyone was still following what he was saying. “I think it would be a good idea to install a play room that is essentially a lion cub’s paradise. We make what will be the world’s coolest cat-tree, pad the floor with that springy stuff they use in kid’s playgrounds, build ramps and platforms along the walls and up to the roof.”  


Clint grinned. He loved the idea, but, “That’s still a lot of construction, Tony. We only have a few hours before the girls get back and we have to keep an ear out for Vanya.”  


Tony waved it off. “We still have time. Vanya is still too little to move much beyond an army crawl in her cub-form; she won’t really be able to play in here until she has her feet under her. We get the basics of the frame-work done today, replace the wall and do the bedroom area to completion and finish off the play-room later.”  


“Let’s do it.”  


Tony grinned. “Excellent.”  


Now that they had a plan, however basic, Steve divvied up the tasks. He put Thor and Bucky on wall demolitions and reconstruction under the supervision of Jarvis, Clint was tasked with getting the ceiling ready for the twinkle-lights to be installed, Bruce was on baby supervision duty as well as furniture construction when it arrived, Steve would prep the walls and ceiling for painting after all the dust had been cleared away and Tony was given the play room to sort out- seeing as how it was his brain-child.  
They worked well together. When the warning came through that the girls were on their way back, all that was left to do was position the furniture and wait for the person who was going to be inhabiting the room to wake up.  
**  


“Wow”.  


To say that she was amazed at what the guys had accomplished would be an understatement. Stepping into the room, Darcy felt as though she’d been transported to Africa and landed on the sweeping grasslands at sunset. The room was also bigger than she remembered- until Clint mentioned that they’d knocked out a wall.  


“There’s more.” Clint said, taking her hand. “Now, it’s not quite finished, but Tony’s said that it’ll be done before Vanya can walk properly.” Clint opened another door and Darcy looked in. She could see instantly what they were doing there- it was a cub-sized jungle gym. There were brackets already bolted to the walls for what Darcy guessed were going to be inclined ramps, platforms and ‘cat-walks’ while there appeared to be hooks bolted into the ceiling- maybe for suspension support. In the middle of the floor was a metal plate bolted to the concrete slab. “Wow.” She winced at the repetition, but honestly, she was too awe-struck to come up with something cleverer.  


“Check this out.” Clint nudged her before addressing the ceiling, “Jarvis, can you put up a projection of the plan? That way Darcy can have an idea what it’ll look like finished.”  


Rather than replying, a holographic wire-frame was projected into the room. The metal plate on the floor was the base for a large tree-style climbing frame. The branches of the ‘tree’ would interconnect with some of the walk-ways and ramps, while it looked as though there were nesting boxes at various heights.  


“This is amazing, babe. Vanya is going to love it when she’s old enough.”  


“Good. Other than the play room, the only thing we need for the room to be baby-ready is to put the sheets on the crib and get her stuff put away.”  


Darcy was amazed- the walls couldn’t be dry already, could they? It normally took days for fresh-painted walls to be more than touch-dry, not the mere hours it had been. Clint must have read the question on her face; “Steve and Tony got in some fancy-schmancy, no odour paint that dries in a few hours and sped it up with the air-conditioning set to ‘dry’ and ‘warm’. Steve went through an entire water-cooler bottle of water while he was painting.”  


Smiling, Darcy rewarded her fiancé with a steamy kiss that was promising to become more but was interrupted by Vanya’s cry. Clint looked at the baby, miffed. “Already, with the cock-blocking, kid?”  


Darcy chuckled.  


“We should do something to say thank-you for the guys’ efforts today.”  


“Pizza, beer and movies with a side of baby cuddles? I think they like her- I saw all of them slip away at some point today to check on her.”  


"I love you, Birdbrain. As soon as our daughter goes to sleep, you are so getting lucky.”  


“Awesome.”  
**  


It took a total of three weeks for the paperwork for Vanya’s adoption and legal birth certificate to be processed, notarised and filed with the city. When the envelope containing Clint and Darcy’s copies arrived by registered post, it was like they could finally breathe without the fear that she could be snatched away.  


It prompted another celebration from the Avengers (read; Tony).  


When Pepper found out about Tony’s plans, rather than stop them, she made him turn it into a ‘Better late than never Baby-Shower’. Vanya’s Aunts and Uncles used the party as an excuse to spoil her even more.  
**  


Vanya was shape-shifting less and less now. Darcy and Clint had discussed it a number of times and figured that it was because she was feeling more secure with them and the rest of the family. She’d recently begun to smile when she heard Darcy or Clint talking and would flail at them in recognition. There were still things that startled her enough to shift; Thor had to watch the random lightning and thunder generation when Vanya was in ear shot or they would have to fish a hissing lion cub out from under the couch- she could only army crawl to move and still had no teeth in cub form, but her claws were getting sharper and with her eyes open, her aim was getting better. Thor wore his ‘war wound’ with pride for a day until it faded, declaring Vanya to be a ‘fine, budding warrior’.  


On one memorable occasion, Clint had dropped a glass with enough force to sound like a small explosion and the noise of it startled Vanya into shifting. Darcy had been in the lounge area with both the baby and Lucky and before she could pick the now-cub up, Lucky had moved to stand over her and began to lick her ears. Many photos were taken and shared.  


Lucky had adapted to the shape-shifting baby surprisingly well. He seemed to have adopted her as a puppy and would often curl up with her on the play mat during tummy-time. Clint and Darcy had mutually decided that if, for some reason, they had to walk away from the baby without the other one there (sometimes nature made an urgent call), that Vanya would be put into her porta-cot. As much as they trusted and loved Lucky, they’d heard all of the horror stories about unwatched babies and the family dog. They didn’t want to have to be put in the situation where Lucky had to be constantly muzzled or even euthanized. Clint didn’t think that they’d have anything to worry about though- the few times Vanya had shifted in her cot, Lucky had just stood there and barked until one of them came to see what the matter was.  
**  


The press learned about her existence when Vanya was three months old. Someone from City Hall had leaked the fact that ‘Hawkeye from the Avengers’ and his partner had adopted a baby. Tony was on the phone to the mayor, demanding that they investigate who leaked the information about the adoption and was also vaguely hinting at potential law-suits the minute that Jarvis had alerted them to the article.  


Darcy had made no bones about the fact that Pepper was who she wanted to be when she grew up; the press release that was issued on their behalf was a work of beauty. In it, there was the standard request for privacy at ‘this time of family bonding’, a down-dressing of the clerk who had wanted a few minutes of fame, a blanket denial of pictures due to ‘security concerns’ and then requested on the family’s behalf that any gifts of congratulations that the general public wanted to send them be instead donated to local children’s shelters or to the Maria Stark foundation.  


It eased off some of the more ethical news outlets, but still left plenty of the more shark-like paparazzi to stalk the tower in hopes of the money shot.  
The scrutiny made it hard to take Vanya anywhere other than the higher levels of the tower where the gardens were. Darcy really wanted to take her to a park and look at ducks, smell new things and hear the noise of the city, but knew that the moment any of the camera toting hyenas caught sight of even a hint of a baby stroller, they’d never get any peace. The last thing they needed was to have Vanya shift on camera and then have the anti-mutant nutters sending them hate mail as well.  
**  


After doing some research into lions, especially those that were kept in zoos, Darcy ended up calling Professor Xavier about the chances that they’d need to vaccinate Vanya against things like feline leukemia and cat flu in addition to her normal infant schedule.  


For a man who was normally pretty unflappable, Darcy’s question seemed to have stopped him in his tracks.  


“I honestly don’t know, Ms Lewis. This has never come up before as there is very rarely a mutant who expresses their mutation at such a young age. I shall consult with my colleagues and get back to you.”  
**  


The play room with its massive cat tree was done in time for Vanya to figure out that she could crawl at 6 months. It was a little early as far as baby developmental milestones went, but in talking with Professor Xavier and Dr Grey, they put it down to her other form also developing her strength and instincts.  


This now meant that when Vanya shifted, the tower’s residential floors went into lock-down in case the newly mobile cub tried to go somewhere she shouldn’t- everyone got really good at dodging the cub as she went around, tripping on her own feet.  


After being pounced on more than once, Darcy could often be heard muttering about getting her daughter a collar with a bell. Clint just thought it was funny and would often catch the baby-cub mid-launch and roll around on the floor with her in mock-wrestling battles until, tired out, Vanya would shift back to human and fall asleep on her daddy’s chest.  
**  


In some ways, it was an idyll, the calm before the storm…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: Babies and young children should never be left unattended with the family dog, no matter how much the dog is trusted. I used to be a vet nurse and at least once a year, I'd wind up helping out with a euthanasia of a beloved family pet who was pushed too far by the grabby-hands of a kid and wound up retaliating. It isn't fun for either party.


	6. Going to the chapel and we're...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here comes the bride...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy moley... long chapter is long... like seriously, I need an editor...

If Darcy could get a bird’s eye-view of her life at the moment, she’d likely conclude that it was as close to perfect as one could get. Her baby was now eight months old, could crawl faster than Darcy was comfortable with and was now making noises that could be translated to actual words, she had an amazingly handsome fiancé who knew her inside and out and could make her laugh with just a side-ways look and smirk. She had a job that was never boring, always challenging in the best of ways and a group of friends that were mostly family by this point. She was happier than ever.  


Right at this moment though, Darcy was cranky. The questions had started after she’d returned to work from her modified maternity leave and had been coming more and more frequently over the last few weeks.It was getting annoying.  


‘So, when’s the wedding?’, ‘Have you set a date yet?’  


Like there was an expiry date on her relationship now that she had said ‘yes’ to Clint’s proposal. The first few times, Darcy had merely deflected the person asking with an evasive demurral, then when more and more people started asking, it took all of her self-control to not break out the sarcasm. Or the taser. It wasn’t any of their business when Clint and she did the final paper-work. The family all knew that they would be the first to know when they would need to set aside time for a ceremony or something, and really, that was all that mattered. It didn’t stop everyone else from trying to be nosy though.  


Calling her day done before she punched someone, Darcy closed everything down, grabbed her bag and left for home. She needed baby cuddles, fiancé snuggles and puppy licks to make her feel better. Not necessarily in that order, but all of them would be needed to make the cranky go away.  
**  


Clint was cleaning and servicing one of his bows and watching Vanya play with some soft toys in colourful polyhedral shapes that were supposed to help with spatial recognition or something. Personally, Clint thought that Jane was just letting out her inner-D&D nerd with the gift, when he heard Darcy come home with a slammed door and muttering that sounded vaguely threatening.  


“Hi, Babe. Rough day?” Clint called out.  


The sound of shoes hitting the back of the coat-closet was answer enough.  


Darcy was not subtle. She didn’t know the meaning of ‘stealth’ and it was highly likely that she would only be able to be quiet if her life really did depend on it- not that he ever wanted her to be in that kind of situation. Again. So he was kind of expecting it when Darcy shuffled into the lounge room and flopped down next to the play mat. Vanya looked up from where she was gumming on the dodecahedron and squealed “Ma Ma Ma!” before abandoning the shape to crawl over and climb onto Darcy’s chest.  


It was reliably reported (by Darcy) that Clint’s expression turned into one of sappiness whenever Vanya reached for him or did something cute. He could now safely confirm that his daughter had the same effect on Darcy- her previous grumpy expression shifted to one of utter joy at the attention from the baby. Rolling onto her back, Darcy lifted Vanya to arms-height and started making zooming noises to the accompaniment of giggles.  


“It’s super-baby, coming in for a landing. Prepare the mama-hangar!”  


Darcy brought the baby back to her chest before smothering Vanya in exaggerated kisses and shifted up to a sitting position with her back against the couch.  


Clint set his bow down next to him and slid off the seat to the floor next to his fiancée.  


“So, why the grumpy?” Clint asked as he slid an arm around Darcy’s shoulders and pulled her to lean against him.  


Darcy didn’t answer straight away- Vanya had found a lock of Darcy’s hair incredibly fascinating and was trying to stuff it into her mouth so Darcy was slightly pre-occupied in trying to prevent the baby from developing a hair-ball.  


“It was just a frustrating day.”  


“How so?”  


Darcy sighed and finally freed her hair from the grabby baby. “Nearly everyone I spoke to today asked when we’re getting married. I didn’t have a good answer. Not that I should need one.” Darcy huffed another sigh. “It isn’t any of their business anyway.”  


Clint had completely forgotten about that step in the whole ‘proposal-engagement-get married’ thing. To be fair though, ‘normal’ never really applied to their relationship.  


“Want me to shoot ‘em for you?”  


“I wish you could. Pepper might have something to say if you did.”  


Clint chuckled and pressed a kiss to Darcy’s hair and watched her play with Vanya’s fingers.  


“How was your day otherwise?”  


“Much of the usual, really. Tony tried to blow something up, Bruce managed to behave himself and Jane had to be unburied from her paperwork again. The rest of the lab rats were behaved for the most part.” Darcy looked up at him and smiled. “How was yours?”  


“Pretty good. Training with Steve and Bucky, picked up Vanya from Thor and we’ve been here playing with blocks for the rest of the day. There were occasional strolls up to the gardens for Lucky’s pee breaks as well as some nap-time. That’s about it.”  


Darcy smirked. “Can we swap days next time? You can deal with the busybodies and I’ll play with the baby all day.”  


Clint frowned. It wasn’t like Darcy to be this annoyed about something. Especially after cuddle-time. “Darcy, I’m ready to set a day whenever you are. If you want to stay engaged for a long time, then I’m happy to do that as well.”  


“I know, Clint. I’m just grumpy. But we really should discuss that at some point.”  


“What’s to discuss? We go down to City Hall, get a marriage licence, wait a day and then get hitched. Just tell me when you want to head over and I’ll be there.”  


Darcy blinked up at Clint and then set the baby down so that she could climb into his lap.  


“You don’t want a big ceremony and stuff? I know that you did at one point. What changed?”  


Clint wrapped his arms around her waist and gave some consideration to what he was going to say.  


“The short answer, is that life got in the way of the fantasy.” Clint ran his hands over Darcy’s back as she snuggled closer to him.  


“The slightly longer answer is that I’m happy now, that I don’t need to have the pomp and pageantry. I have everything that I need right here, right now. I have you in my arms, I have a gorgeous daughter who has a unique skill set and I have an amazing job that I could have never thought was possible. Hell, I even have a family that is just as messed up and weird as I am.” Clint pressed a kiss to her forehead and threw a glance to Vanya to make sure that she hadn’t gotten into anything that she shouldn’t- she was back to gumming one of the blocks with Lucky standing guard.  


“If you’re sure about that Clint, then I’m happy with simple.”  


“Yup. Now, what do you want for dinner?”  
**  


The next morning, Darcy was mulling over the conversation over dinner. They’d decided to have Vanya in day-care for the day (assuming one of her uncles didn’t volunteer to watch her before she could get signed in), head over to City Hall over lunch, get the paperwork started and then by the end of the week, they’d be Mr. and Mrs. Sounded simple, but Darcy couldn’t let it go. It just wasn’t sitting right.  


Sure, he said that he was happy with simple, but part of her wanted to make a big deal out of the wedding. She was (theoretically) only going to do this once, and she wanted a few more memories than just a ‘Spaceballs’ style wedding- the ‘Do you?’ ‘Yep’, ‘Do you?’ ‘Yep’. ‘Good, you’re done. Kiss’ was leaving her with a slightly bitter taste in her mouth. She wanted a bit more of an event, and if it helped to fulfil one of Clint’s fantasies, well, all the better.  


An idea was brewing… but she needed co-conspirators.  


“Jarvis, this is probably a stupid question, but is Tony in his workshop?”  


“Yes, Ms Lewis. Sir would likely welcome some company at this point- he has not engaged privacy protocols.”  


“Coolies.”  
**  


The announcement that Clint and Darcy were going to be getting married at the court house later that week was met with mixed reactions. Jane and Thor were slightly sullen over not being able to be a part of a big ceremony (Thor had made noises about hosting the ceremony on Asgard as it would befit an adopted member of his family), Pepper just nodded and made a note to have Darcy’s employment paperwork updated, Steve looked as though he was trying to not shout ‘About time!’ while Natasha, Bruce and Bucky gave them blank face and offered a muted congratulations. Tony though… Tony played his part well. Their planning and scheming in the workshop earlier that day was beginning to pay off.  


“Well, seeing as how you’re denying us the chance to have a proper wedding reception, we’ll all just have to go on vacation next week to celebrate instead!”  
Pepper looked up at Tony’s declaration with narrowed eyes. She knew he was up to something. “Tony, I don’t think that Clint or Darcy want us all hanging around with them so soon after they get married.”  


Tony waved his hand around dismissively. “Nonsense! They already live together, it’s not like they need a honeymoon- they’ve already got a kid. Besides, I have the perfect place for us to all go. It can be a team bonding thing!”  


“What did you have in mind, Tony?” Darcy was getting a kick out of this. It was all working out  


“Disneyland!” Tony was met with incredulous looks from everyone. “No, no, hear me out. It’s kid friendly so the squirt will have some fun even though she can’t really walk, Sleeping Beauty and the Tin Man still need to see the wonders and rampant consumerism of Disneyland, Thor will get a kick out of the teacups and Natasha can go around scaring the kids. It’ll be great!” The glare that Natasha directed at the engineer would have scared anyone with some sense of self-preservation, but didn’t even make Tony flinch. Which explained so much…  


Before anyone could really derail the plan, Darcy looked at Clint and asked, “What do you think, babe? Feel like a vacation to the ‘happiest place on Earth?”  


“Sure, I haven’t been there before. It sounds like fun.” Clint nodded in agreement.  


Darcy smiled at her soon-to-be-husband. She’d do a victory dance later. “Vanya would get a kick out of meeting Tigger and Pooh-bear in real life. What about the rest of you? Shall we go visit Mickey?”  


Darcy watched as her friends gave it some thought. Tony was still bouncing on his toes while Natasha was flicking her glance between Darcy and Stark. Shit, she was on to them. Hopefully, she wouldn’t say anything.  


“Very well. I’m in.” Natasha nodded.  


“I’m in. So long as we can get the line-bypass tickets. I’m a patient person, but there is no way that the Other Guy won’t come out if we have to deal with whiney kids and obnoxious parents.” Bruce smiled as he fell in with the plan.  


“That goes without saying, Brucie-bear! How else will we get to play with everything in under a week?”  


“Tony, you are not allowed to pull apart the rides to, quote-unquote, make them better. I see you anywhere near the controls for anything and you’re shut out of the ‘shop for a month.” Pepper scolded with a smile.  


“Awww, but Pepp… Those animatronic eye-sores hurt me in my soul. My soul, Pepper. You wouldn’t want my soul to be hurt, would you?” Tony wheedled as everyone cracked up.  


“No, Tony.”  


“You’re no fun anymore.”  


“That’s not what you said last night.”  


While Clint was still cackling at the exchange between Tony and Pepper, Darcy looked at everyone else. “Well? Are we going on vacation?”  


Their smiles were answer enough.  


“Awesome! I’ll get Tony to get Jarvis to book it.”  
**  


She was half expecting it, but Darcy still jumped when Natasha seemed to melt out of the shadows to walk next to her on the way to pick up Vanya from day-care.  


“Jesus, Nat! Make some noise, dammit.”  


“What are you planning, little sister?”  


It wouldn’t do any good to lie or try to evade Natasha’s question. The assassin would find out anyway, and the best way to keep her plans from Clint would be to enlist Nat’s assistance.  


“Well, it all started with a conversation last night...”  


By the end of the explanation, Darcy had secured Natasha’s aid with her plan.  
**  


Darcy and Clint had asked Jane and Steve to stand as their witnesses at the Court House service. There had been a fair amount of discussion between them as to who they should ask. Initially, Clint had wanted to as Natasha to be his witness, but seeing as how she didn’t really have a legally recognised identity anymore, anything she signed would be open for dispute. The same applied to Bucky. Having Tony and Pepper on their paperwork, while it would be awesome, would also draw too much attention. Bruce was still being hunted by that moron Ross, Thor- while he was willing- wasn’t a citizen of Earth, let alone the US. So that really left Jane and Steve. Of course, they didn’t actually _tell_ Steve and Jane that they were only asked after a process of elimination- that would be rude.  


The ceremony itself was quick. Ten minutes with a Justice of the Peace, mutual vow and ring exchange, a kiss and signed paperwork. Done, dusted and official.  


For all that they knew it would be a quick thing, Clint and Darcy still put in a little bit of effort with their appearance- Jane had offered to take photos for them. Clint was actually in a pair of charcoal-coloured tailored pants, a deep-violet button-down shirt with sleeves rolled up and a neat waist-coat that emphasised the breadth of his shoulders. It was all Darcy could do to not drool on him.  


Darcy had selected a knee-length wrap-around dress in a muted wine-red that showed off her curves without being obvious about it. She’d learnt a lot from Pepper and Nat about clothes and how to wear them effectively. Besides, she’d still needed to put in a half-day at work before the appointment, so her clothes couldn’t really scream ‘wedding’.  


Other than Jane and Steve, Clint and Darcy hadn’t really expected to see any of the others at the court house. So it came as a bit of a surprise when the cheers started. 

Startled, they looked around to see their family in the gallery chairs. Even Vanya was there- which was a surprise. Clint and Darcy had decided to keep her in day-care that day, reasoning that she wouldn’t know what was happening anyway. Natasha must have signed her out. They couldn’t be mad though- seeing their daughter laughing and clapping (a newly learnt skill) along with her Aunts and Uncles made Darcy’s heart lift.  


For all of the simplicity, Darcy thought that today would be right up there on the list of her top ten ‘Best-day(s)-ever’.  
**  


_One week later…_  


Clint was never more grateful for Tony’s bank account and general ‘larger-than-life-ness’ then right at that moment.  


It turned out that Vanya was NOT a fan of flying. The minute that the engines of the private plane had started up, Vanya began crying and then shifted and hid under Darcy’s seat. Clint could only imagine the chaos it would cause to have a lion cub suddenly appearing on a commercial flight.  


After managing to fish his daughter out from under the seat, Clint coaxed her back to human and tried to settle her as Darcy looked on helplessly, but Vanya wasn’t going to fall for it. As the whine of the engines increased to get the plane taxiing, Vanya became more upset. Her cries only began to taper when he pressed her head to his chest, then picked back up when he moved her. Clint blamed the lack of coffee for not making the connection before- it was the high-pitched sound that was freaking her out. Seemed as though her human form had enhanced hearing. Poor baby.  


“Hey, Tony. Any chance you’ve got some hearing protection on the plane? I think that the engine noise is freaking her out.”  


Tony looked up from his drink with a sympathetic expression. “Sorry bird-brain. Not really something that I normally keep around.”  


“Here, Clint. Try this.” Clint looked up as Bruce handed him a cotton ball. “Rip it in half and use it to block her ears, it should help. If you hold her and hum as well, it might settle her faster if she can feel the vibrations in your chest.”  


“Thanks, Bruce.”  
After a few minutes, Vanya settled into sleep and the rest of the flight passed uneventfully.  
**  


Tony and Pepper had arranged for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant so they could plan the first day at the park. After some discussion over a map of the park, in addition to a few minor arguments, it was decided that they would start at the back of the park in ‘Mickey’s Toon Town’ and work their way forward toward the main entrance.  
Because they were here for a week, there wasn’t any rush to get through everything in a day- they could stay together and if needs be, take shifts for the rides that Vanya couldn’t go on.  


Tony had done some kind of deal with the park- they were all getting what amounted to VIP treatment that included a special edition ‘fast-pass’ that was valid for all rides and exhibits- even the ones that didn’t normally accept it. Darcy didn’t want to ask what that was going to cost him- she’d seen the prices for normal tickets on the website.  
**  


They’d finally called it a day and stumbled back to the hotel just as the sun was setting. Thor looked like the world’s biggest kid- head sized lolly-pop in one hand, tote bags in the other with a ridiculously kitschy pair of mouse ears topped with a mini tiara, but still as energised as ever. With even the super-soldiers looking as though they were about to drop where they stood, Thor still appeared as though he’d be able to keep on going.  


He made Darcy tired just looking at him. Tirederer. More tired. Whatever.  


She needed a nap before they met up for dinner. Grabbing Clint and the baby, Darcy hauled them to the room, put Vanya into her crib and went for a shower- taking her husband with her. Shower snuggles were always welcome, no matter how tired they were.  


“Did you have fun today?”  


His ear-to-ear grin was answer enough. She’d had to pry him away from the midway at one point with the promise of food and candy.  


“So much fun. I wonder where we’re starting tomorrow.”  


Darcy smiled up at him as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair.  


“Right now, I don’t know, or care. I want a nap before dinner and you’re coming with me.”  


“As you wish.”  
**  


That first day set the pattern for the rest of the vacation. They’d get up early, have breakfast and hit the park for the day. Lunch at one of the restaurants, more rides and exhibits until just after sunset before heading back to the hotel for a nap, shower and dinner.  


At dinner the night before their last day at the park, Tony announced that he’d arranged a special event for the following day. They’d still go to the park in the morning, but would need to be back by lunch to get ready for the rest of the day. Oh, and that it was a costumed event, costumes would be provided in their rooms for them to change into along with instructions for hair and (for the women) make-up.  


Darcy, who knew what was going on, watched as everyone reacted. Mostly in the negative. A silent appeal to Natasha had the assassin speaking up.  


“It’s only fair that we indulge Tony in this. He’s paid for everything else this trip and asked for very little in return. We will do this, and you will all like it.” And really, what else could be said after that?  
**  


Natasha had managed to steal Clint for the afternoon so that they could get ready- she’d used the excuse that she needed help with her make-up. Really, it was so that Darcy could get ready without clueing Clint into what was really going on.  


The dress was amazing. Dark cream silk and chiffon, bright coloured flowers embroidered along the hem and in random peaks to hide the seams in the fabric. Dazzling crystals sparkled here and there, making the whole dress glitter in the right light. Darcy felt like a princess… fitting when she considered where she was at that moment.  


A tap on the door revealed Pepper with another woman who was carrying a large case.  


“Tony told me what you’d both been planning when I saw the costumes he’d picked for the two of us.” Darcy took a second look at what Pepper was wearing. It was a sage green gown with a ‘mermaid’ style skirt. Combined with her red hair and fair complexion, Pepper was the very definition of ‘Ariel’ from Little Mermaid.  


“This is Lilly. She’s going to do your hair, and I have some jewellery for you to wear.”  


“I honestly wasn’t planning this level of extravagance, Pepper. I was thinking more along the lines of the costumes that the actors wear around the park.”  


Pepper let out an inelegant snort. “Did you really think that Tony could show any kind of restraint? Especially for something like this. He’s a romantic at heart, but never tell him I said that.”  


“His secret is safe with me.” Darcy sat at the vanity as Lilly finished setting up her equipment. “By the way, Pepper. I want to thank-you for everything you’ve done for Clint, Vanya and myself. I don’t think that I’ve ever said it before.”  


Pepper’s eyes were watery when Darcy looked at her in the mirror.  


“You’re more than welcome, Darcy. After all, that’s what family is for, right?”  
**  


Clint began to get suspicious that there was something more going than just a fancy costume party when he saw what he was supposed to wear. It looked suspiciously like a renaissance/Edwardian-style tuxedo; cravat, gloves, breeches and knee boots. The jacket had gold piping, tails and embellished with tassels. Tassels. WTF?  


Nat’s outfit added to the suspect nature of the afternoon. Her outfit had a distinct ‘Chinese’ feel to it; knee length, mandarin-collared tunic with side splits over loose pants that gathered at the ankle. A red sash was holding the scabbard for a ‘ceremonial’ sword (that Clint suspected was an actual live weapon) and Nat had even added a black wig to complete the outfit.  


“What’s going on Natasha? You gave in pretty quickly when Tony suggested this.”  


“Shut up and help me with the make-up Clint. All you need to know right now is that we’re going to a party and will enjoy it. The rest will become apparent when we get there.”  


“Fine.” Clint set to work with the various powders and paints- not that Natasha couldn’t do this herself. “By the way, where’s Vanya? She wasn’t with Darcy when you dragged me away.”  


“Jane has her and will get her ready.”  


Clint was surprised by that. So, this party was kid-friendly… hmmm  


“Are you done? You still need to get dressed.”  


“Just about. Slave driver.” A final flourish with loose powder and Clint moved away to get dressed. “I’m gonna need your help with the cravat. I can never tie those things.”  


“Hurry up, or I’ll turn it into a noose.”  
**  


There was a horse-drawn carriage waiting at the hotel’s entrance. The driver and foot-person (she was a woman) were in full livery; top-hat, tailed jacket and flouncy tie thingy, while the horses were matched in height and colour. There were flowers and vines wrapped around the non-dangly parts of the rigging and braided into the horse’s manes. It was a striking sight.  


“Holy shit.” Pepper heard Darcy’s soft exclamation and chuckled.  


When Darcy came in view from the front entrance doors, the foot-person stepped down from the carriage to open the door and drop the step. It added to the whole ‘feel like a princess’ vibe. There was also a crowd forming, drawn there by the carriage and horses.  


“Ready, Darce?”  


“Absolutely.”  
**  


Clint finally caught on to what was happening when Natasha hustled him out of the door before he could ask his wife’s whereabouts.  


“Bloody hell, Nat! Stop pushing! We have to wait for Darcy.”  


“No, we don’t. We’ll meet her at the venue. She’s coming with Pepper.”  


“What for? It’s not like we’re getting married again and I can’t see her bef-… Oh, fuck.” There was an almost audible ‘click’ as he put the clues together. “We’re getting married again, aren’t we?”  


Natasha laughed at him.  


“Took you long enough to figure out.” Natasha jabbed him in the ribs with a pointy finger. “Technically, it’s a vow renewal. Your wife has been conspiring with Tony for the last week. I’m surprised that you didn’t figure it out before this.” She frowned. “You’re getting soft.”  


Clint smiled. “Be nice, Nat. I’m getting married today. Again.”  


“I’m always nice.” She ignored the snort of derision that came from him. “I’m happy for you, _brat_. You deserve happy.”  


Clint leaned over a kissed her cheek. “So do you, _sestrenka_. I want you to find your happy, much as I have.”  


Natasha smiled and started humming under her breath as they walked to the golf-cart that Tony had left for them.  


_‘Some day, my prince will come…’_  
**  


Clint had laughed out loud at the costumes that the others were wearing. Bruce was in an explorer/safari outfit, complete with a pith helmet that was too big for him, Jane and Thor were dressed as Snow White and her Prince Charming, Steve was in a similarly styled tuxedo to what Clint was wearing and holding Vanya who was in a baby’s version of Belle’s yellow ball-gown from Beauty and the Beast (Clint had to concentrate not to coo out loud- what? She was cute), while Bucky was in a samurai outfit that seemed to fit with Natasha’s costume.  


Tony, dressed as Prince Eric (what? He had a daughter and a wife who was obsessed with all things Disney- of course he knew who everyone was supposed to be) was standing with a tall lady who was holding a clip-board and had an over-the-ear communications peice as Clint walked over to him.  


“Looking sharp there, Bird-brain.”  


“Tony. Thank-you for this. It means the world to me. To us.”  


Never one to accept complements gracefully, Tony waved away the thanks. “This was all your wife’s idea. I just bank-rolled it.”  


“Be that as it may, me saying thanks- it’s the least I can do.”  


Tony beamed. “No worries. Family, right?”  


“Right.”  


The lady that Tony had been standing with lifted a hand to her ear, nodded at the air and bent to whisper something to Tony.  


“Alrighty, people! Places!” Tony gestured to the dais that Clint was meant to stand on as Pepper came rushing over.  


Movement out of the corner of his eye made Clint startle- it seemed as though Mickey Mouse was standing as ‘Best Mouse’. He grinned. This was completely surreal, and he hadn’t even seen Darcy yet.  


A fanfare of trumpets drew his attention to the door and then he froze. Clint was sure his jaw had dropped to the floor.  


Darcy was beautiful at the best of times. Sure, she bitched about little things, but as far as Clint was concerned, it just added to the whole- Darcy wouldn’t be Darcy without the curves or the fly-away hair frizz. But right now? At this moment?  


Clint was almost positive that somehow a goddess had come to Earth.  


He blinked and somehow she was standing right next to him. He’d missed her walking over.  


“Hi, handsome. Wanna get hitched. Again?”  


“Wow.”  
**  


Somehow, Tony and the event planner had arranged for Clint and Darcy to be dancing as the sun was setting. The silhouette of Cinderella’s castle behind them, with the multihued sky above, made for some very striking photos that added to the theme of the evening.  


The whole afternoon was perfect and beyond anything that Clint could have imagined for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The costumes... in case it wasn't obvious...  
> Tony and Pepper: Eric and Ariel- The Little Mermaid  
> Bruce: Milo Thatch- Atlantis the Lost Empire  
> Steve and Vanya: Belle and Beast (post transformation)- Beauty and the Beast  
> Natasha: Mulan (think the OUaT version)  
> Bucky: Mulan's love interest (I can't remember his name)- Mulan  
> Jane and Thor: Snow White and Prince Charming- Snow White.


End file.
